Thursday, March 12, 2009

Anne Wildeboor (Horticulturist, Seasonal Displays and Events), along with gardeners and volunteers, is busy planting ground covers and placing orchids for the new conservatory display of Orchids and Bromeliads. The conservatory is being transformed into a jungle showcasing these plants.

The display includes the Red Powderpuff (Calliandrahaematocephala), which is in full bloom.

Forced azaleas are perfuming the air: this is the hardy 'White Lights' Azalea, one of the best for growing outdoors in our climate.

This is the flower truss of the 'Mandarin Lights' Azalea, another azalea that does well outdoors in our climate.

Our winter flowering tropical Joe Pye-weeds (Eupatoriumsordidum) are always a hit but they only bloom after the short days of winter so will not work as plants set outdoors for summer. Enjoy their huge trusses of blue flowers.

All orchids with flower spikes or flowers have been pulled from our greenhouses and are staged ready for placement in the display.

Orchids are the major flowers of this display but the handsome foliage of a striped bromeliad is the backdrop for this white Paphiopedilumorchid. There are thousands of species of orchids, even more hybrids, and even more cultivars! Most of the orchids will not be labeled in the display--it distracts from the beauty of the experience. You may leave a plant information request form at the front desk if you need to know a name. Many orchids are complex crosses that are produced in limited numbers. Exact clones are generally not available, so the value of the name is minimal. Below is a quick sample of some of the orchids you will see in bloom in the display. I did not pull out their labels so no names are given. We hope you enjoy the exotic beauty of these most marvelous of flowers.

The new conservatory display opens on Saturday, March 14. Forced flowering dogwoods and the aforementioned azaleas add a preview of spring to the display. A great selection of orchids will be for sale from a display case adjacent to the front desk. We hope this gets you excited for the 2009 growing season!